This invention relates to protective bumpers for the body of vehicles. The invention is concerned more particularly with protective bumpers for bodies of vehicles which may be demountably attached to the vehicle by suction cups.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,546, issued Oct. 14, 1969 to Samuels to provide a protective side bumper for automobiles in the form of buffer strips having a trapezoidal shape in cross section. The buffer strips are formed of a flexible cushioning body made in part of an elastomer, such as rubber. The strips include stiffening members within the body and are provided with hooks or the like, at the ends thereof, to serve as a means for fixing the strip to a door of an automobile or the like, the hooks being designed to fit about the sides of a door. The buffer strips according to the Samuels invention can be positioned and held against portions of an automobile body by magnets which are embedded in the body of elastomeric material near that surface of the strips which are to address an outwardly facing surface of the vehicle. The strips so constructed have the distinct shortcoming of being able to cover only a door when the hook mounting technique is used and of being relatively heavy in the embodiment which requires magnets. The latter version is limited to use in conjunction with vehicle bodies made of magnetizable material.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,734,765 to Henderson et al., issued Feb. 14, 1956 to construct a door protecting accessory for vehicles of a relatively narrow elongated body formed of hard rubber. The accessory is provided with a series of integral suction cups to effect the demountable connection of the accessory to a door of an automobile. The suction cups have mean diameters which are considerably greater than the vertical extending width of the accessory. A strip of metal, which acts as a reinforcement, is provided along the outwardly facing portion of the accessory. This particular device has a number of disadvantages. The accessory is relatively heavy because of the specific gravity of hard rubber and the metal reinforcing strip. The suction cups consequently must be relatively large and the force receiving surface of the accessory very narrow. This known accessory is neither inexpensive nor easy to construct.